KandKmom

I have just made reservations for our family to spend 2 nights at the Belvedere a few days before Christmas. We went to New York last summer for the first time, but took Amtrak from our home in Richmond, VA. This time it will be a side trip from a family reunion in Berwick, PA. We have never driven around NYC and Richmond traffic- even at rush hour- I am sure cannot begin to compare. We were planning on getting there at around 10:30 am on Sunday. Would it be better to find a parking lot outside the city and shuttle in, or is it feasible to get there by driving in ourselves? Obviously, we don't plan on driving once we get there to sightsee- I just want to get there and get out- safely! Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

HowardR

You are coming into the city at a time when traffic will be very light. So, driving should not be a problem. In fact, you have a good chance of finding a space on the street on a Sunday morning. Then, hopefully with the help of the hotel, you'll be able to locate a reasonable parking lot/garage in the area to leave you for the rest of your stay.

Gekko

I agree with HowardR. Traffic will be light by NYC standards and you'll do fine. Park at a garage next to or near your hotel. It won't be cheap, but that's life in New York.

(As an aside, many tourists driving into NYC prefer the George Washington Bridge over the tunnels. Yes, it may be a bit out of the way, but if you're more comfortable with bridges and/or the easier ingress/egress of the GWB, than go fot it.)

Owen_ONeill

I'll disagree about using the GW Bridge most specifically in this situation because you'd have to drive about 5 miles north out of your way, cross over the GWB (which is quite often a longer wait than the Lincoln Tunnel) and then you'd have to head back downtown to reach your hotel - too much extra driving.

If you don't want to spend the $$ for a parking garage adjacent to the hotel, just drop off the family and the luggage and head west on a cross street until you get out between 10th and 11th Avenue - it may take circling up or down a few times to check each of the side streets but you'll almost definitely find either on street parking or a secure garage that charges about $15 - $18 per 24 hours of parking. You can walk back to the Belvedere from there or take a cab for under $5.

Gekko

Of course Owen is right about the GWB being out of your way, as I stated also. Nonetheless, many of my visitor friends prefer it over the tunnels, partially because once you're on the NYC side, it's less confusing than the tunnels.

Hey, personally I use whatever is most convenient (bridge, tunnel, ferry, submarine, jetpack), but I live here and have done it all many times before.

KandKmom

I have done a mapquest search and used the directions the hotel's site gives (Yahoo). Neither gives me much help with using the bridge, both show the Lincoln Tunnel route. I think we can do a tunnel-the kids will probably think it is cool as they haven't been in one. I think I will just close my eyes while hubby drives Another question- We are planning on leaving on Tuesday, Dec. 23. If we wanted to get as much out of our last day as possible, when would be the latest we could leave in order to avoid the worst traffic?

SB_Travlr

I grew in in London, learned to drive around there. Now I live in CT -- we find NYC pretty simple for driving, because it's so easy to know which way you want to go and how to get there. (Much simpler than either London or Boston.)

Spend some time with a good map, familiarize yourself with the grid system and layout -- see which avenues go uptown and which go downtown. A good navigator is a big help! Arriving on Sunday is a good idea, but remember that lots of folks love to Christmas shop on weekends in the city. (And it could snow...)

rwilliams

Driving in NYC is very straightforward.
Yes traffic can get very snarled and gridlock is no fun when it occurs. But as far as navigational issues, NYC is a piece of cake compared to cities like Boston.

GBelle

I agree with the Sunday comments. Traffic should be relatively light around 10:30 am on a Sunday. However, since it's a few days before Christmas, you may find more traffic than "NY usual" because of the holiday shoppers. Christmas in NYC is great. See if you can make reservations for the Radio City Christmas show. We went there two years ago and my kids (both boys, preteen and teen) were expecting it to be "boring" but ended up loving it. We reserved the first show of the day (the line was around the block when we came out and I was glad we weren't standing out in the cold waiting to get in). We went over to Rockefeller Center to see the ice skaters and lights and even got on the "Today" show broadcast before the RC show began. (Don't recall if it was a Saturday or Sunday, but it was fun.)
NYC is laid out in a "grid pattern" so driving is actually a lot easier than other cities. Just watch out for one way streets.
Have fun